Shoe



` Julyls, 1940. @..PUsKol-F Em 2202699 SHOE Filed Sept. 14, 1939INVENTOR.

mapas July 1e, 1940 snor.

Philip Pliskoil' and Dave Weinberger,

' New York, N. Y.

Application September 14, 1939, Serial No. 294,816

2 Claims.

'Ihis invention relates to shoes and has for its object the provision ofmeans by which shoes of the so-called backless 'type may be renderedmore comfortable to wear; which will aii'ord greater protection forcertain portions of the foot and in which the appearance o f the shoewill be improved.

More particularly, the invention contemplates the provision of a shoe ofthe so-called backless type wherein the greater portion of the back ofthe shoe is composed of a molded and preferably, although notnecessarily, transparent material. We are aware that prior to thisinvention efforts have been made to provide certain portions of the shoeof transparent material. However, such transparent portions were usuallylocated in the toe portion of the shoe, the purpose of which, in suchprior inventions, was to enable the position of the toes in the shoe tobe seen to determine whether or not a proper iit of the shoe was had. Wetherefore make no claim to such disposition of the transparent material,since that employed, according to the present invention, is not onlylocated in an entirely diil'erent location in the shoe, but is used foran entirely dierent purpose.

In the accompanying drawing wherein an embodiment of the invention isshown, Fig. 1 is a side Velevation of a shoe constructed in accordancewith the invention, and Fig. 2 is a perspective View of the rear orcounter portion of the sh separated from the shoe to disclose itsconstruction.

In the drawing, I indicates a shoe of generally known construction, thesame having the sole 2, heel 3 and upper 4, all of these parts beingconstructed in the conventional manner and composed of leather, cloth orsome similar opaque material. 'I'he shoe disclosed is of the well-knownopen-back or backless construction, as is in vogue at the present time,and in which a single strap 5 of leather, fabric or some similar opaquematerial, extends along the top of the shoe and around the back of thefoot and is united at the front by means of .the tongue and buckleconnection 5, 1 or some other similar fastening means.

In the ordinary type of backless shoe, the strap 5 constitutes a singlemeans extending around the back of the foot forholding the rear portionoi' the shoe to the foot and in this type of shoe, when walking there isa tendency for the heel to fall away from the foot due to the fact thatthe narrow strap 5 encircling the rear of the foot does not providesumcient frictional resistance to hold the heel portion snugly to thebottom of the foot when the -foot is raised. In

PATENT oFFlcE our improved construction, we provide a shoe back orcounter portion 8, shown in Fig. 2, composed of a relatively still",molded plastic material of substantial thickness: the same having theupstanding side `walls or counters 9 to embrace 5 the sides of the footin the conventional manner in which the ordinary counter does in shoesof ordinary construction. The counter portion 8 is provided with theintegral inturned flange I0 which is secured between the insole andheelpor- 10 tion of the shoe in the conventional way in which an ordinarycounter is secured in place.

In the construction of the back or counter 8, any suitable plasticmaterial may be used and the same is preferably, although notnecessarily, l5 wholly transparent. When the back of the shoe iscomposed of such transparent material in the manner described, the heelportion of the wearers foot is visible through the back or counterportion 8 below strap 5 and the appearance of a 20 backless sh issecured, while at the same time all of the advantages of a backed shoeis obtained, since the portion 8 provides all the support obtained bythe conventional type of backed shoe and at the same time since it istransparent, it is more or less invisible and to all appearances abackless shoe, now in vogue, is being Worn.

Instead of making the back portion of the shoe transparent, however, itmay be made of tinted or colored material and in this way many noveleiects may be had. It is, as previously explained, 4preferably molded orotherwise formed from relatively stiif plastic material and being madein one piece, it is smooth and completely unbroken around the heelportion of the foot, therebyhav- 35 ing no vertical seams or otherinterruption in its continuity. The top of the back portion 8 may beattached to the encircling strap 5 by means of stitching Il and to thesides vof the shoe by' means of stitching I2 or in any other suitableway. 40

From the foregoing, it will be obvious that with the rear portion of theshoe formed of the material mentioned and of either transparent ortinted material, many novel effects may be obtained and a comfortablewell-fitting shoe produced, 5 while at the same time the appearance of aA backless type shoe will be presented.

While we have herein shown a shoe of a vspecil-lc design, it will beobvious that the invention is not limited thereto, since the inventionmay be applied to almost any shoe of the so-called backless typeregardless of other design features oi the shoe.

f What we claim is:

1. In a shoe for normal wear in which the ap- 55 pearance of a backlessconstruction is sought, a foot-encircling strap extending around theback of the Wearers foot, a heel located below the strap and spacedtherefrom, and an unlined insert of transparent material located at theback of the shoe and disposed and exposed between the strap and heel andsecured thereto whereby the portion of the foot over which said insertextends is visible through the insert.

2. In a shoe for normal wear and in which the appearance of a so-calledbackless .construction is sought, a foot-encircling strap extendingaround the back of the wearers foot, a heel 1ocated below the strap andspaced therefrom, an insert of molded material located at the back ofthe shoe and exposed to view from both the interior and the exterior ofthe shoe, the upper edge of the insert being attached to andconstituting a support for the strap, the lower end of the insert beingattached to the heel, the insert being transparent and unlined and thusrendered substantially invisible or nearly so when the shoe is worn.

PHILIP PLISKOFF.

DAVE WEISBERGER.

